Sébastien Loeb has a comfortable half-minute lead in the Rally Bulgaria despite being beaten for the first time as team-mate Dani Sordo clocked the fastest time on stage six.
The defending world champion enjoyed a near-perfect morning as he tightened his grip on the rally. However, the third and final stage of the morning was cancelled due to the high number of spectators arriving late at the end of the 24.86km Lyubnitsa, leaving Loeb to drive back to service with a half-minute lead over Sordo.
The Citroen pair also extended their lead over the Ford Focus RS WRCs of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala. Citroen helped by a decision to run soft tyres on what turned out to be wetter-than-expected stages.
“It was a good morning,” said Loeb. “There were no mistakes and no problems. In the second stage I was thinking a little more to the safety. I lost my rhythm in the middle of the stage and then couldn’t find it so much. I would like to push some more, I feel better when I drive like this.”
Sordo was also pleased with his morning’s work after extending his lead over third-placed Petter Solberg.
“I think this is okay now,” said the Spaniard. “It was wet in the first stage, but it was also quite good fun driving the car in these conditions. I feel well with the car now, the set-up is really good.”
Meanwhile, Sébastien Ogier was content to spend his time learning more about driving the Citroen on asphalt - and to keep the Fords behind him.
For more information, including the split times for each stage, visit wrc.com or rallybulgaria.com.
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